BREAKING NEWS: Gregg Popovich Is Full Of Shit

If you aren’t familiar, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has built himself quite the reputation for being a man of few words. But lately, he’s been breaking out of that mold. Twice since Donald Trump was elected, Popovich has launched into harshly critical commentary of Donald Trump, the man who is now the 45th President of the United States.

Now, there’s a few things I have to say here. I have enormous respect for Popovich. He is certainly in the conversation about the greatest basketball coach not named Phil Jackson. I’d even entertain the notion he’s a better coach than Jackson. But as a social commentator, his most recent diatribe only shows that he’s full of shit.

I can already see the Anti-Trumpers sharpening up their crayons to write me hate mail. Save your time, gang…first, you’re going to want to follow why I’m saying that, because believe me, I’ve already heard all the name-calling bullshit, and that simply isn’t going to get you anywhere on this blog. I’m no Trump apologist; but I’m also not buying a demonstrably lazy narrative about him.

To really understand what this is all about, you have to get past the bluster and the intellectual mushy-headedness that is the “meat-and-potatoes” of the Anti-Trump crowd. Buying the media bilge about Trump is simply taking the intellectually lazy way of being against the man. Intellectual honesty begs the question if Trump really were all the “-ists” people say he is, why was there hardly a hint of that in the previous thirty years the guy was in the American celebrity limelight? Before you dig up some anecdotal shred, stop to consider that Trump did tons of business in this country in an era dominated by “political correctness;’ an era in which hanging a PC “label” on somebody had the same effect of screaming “communist” during the McCarthy era.

That’s what the real problem here is. “Political Correctness” was a brain-child of the purveyors of the liberalism borne of the 1960’s. You can trace that all the way to the “free speech” movement at the University of California. Donald Trump killed “Political Correctness,” and in doing so drove a dagger through the heart of those who honestly believed they were going to be the generation which finally transformed America into what they think a European-style socialist democracy is.

Here’s your shot, Anti-Trumpers…I need you – WITHOUT ANY NAME-CALLING – to explain to me how my theory on you and Popovich being completely full of shit is inaccurate. Here’s the trick…in order to do so, you’ll need to FACTUALLY refute my breakdown of Popovich’s most recent comments.

“I’ve spoken on this before and I probably will again. Right now I’m just trying to formulate thoughts. It’s still early and I’m still sick to my stomach. Not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor and tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, and I live in that country where half the country ignored all that to elect someone. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing to me.”

I’ve got no idea what this guy could be sick to his stomach over, considering:

A) “Pops” is the one doing all the name-calling here. This is my biggest problem with the Anti-Trumpers; there’s no honest debate on policy, it’s all just more of the shop-worn labels intended to discredit. These are the classic McCarthy-ist labels I was talking about, and I’m done listening to them. I’m not the only one…more on that later.

B) Am I the only one who heard Trump talking about protecting Americans from radical Islam; a culture which enslaves women and kills homosexuals outright? That’s one thing I need explained to me…A wonan or a homosexual voting for Hilary Clinton whose campaign was heavily funded by the Saudis is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders. Sticks and stones is one thing, vests made of TNT and shooting up gay nightclubs is another.

D) “Pops” is glossing over the fact that the choice in this election was between somebody who said “mean things” versus somebody who was selling national security to the highest bidder, then tried to double-back and blame the whole thing on the Russians. Say what you will about Trump; at least he isn’t insulting our intelligence, which the New American Left simply loves doing. That’s important; I’ll be coming back to that later.

“It’s got nothing to do with the environment and Obamacare and all that other stuff. We live in a country that ignored all those values that we would hold our kids accountable for. They’d be grounded for years if they acted and said the things that have been said in that campaign by Donald Trump. I look at the evangelicals and I wonder, ‘Those values don’t mean anything to them?’

So, you’re telling me that the policies aren’t important to you. Uh-huh. Do you really expect me to believe you can’t understand why evangelicals would reject liberalism when all it’s done it attack them for the last 30 years?

I’m also guessing “Pops” hasn’t seen the inside of a supermarket lately. If he had, he wouldn’t be trotting out that crap about the “values that we would hold our kids accountable for.” Suopermarkets are the perfect place to see that accountability in action, when some yoga-panted soccer mom can’t handle her “participation trophy” kid who is throwing a fucking tantrum because she won’t buy him a box of Frosted Flakes. That’s the values the evangelicals, the rest of the “deplorables” and I have seen. And like those Frosted Flakes, we aren’t buying your flaky values anymore.

Let me put it to you this way, “Pops.” Your earlier “Rome” comment suggests we would probably agree this country faces some serious challenges right now. Where we would differ is saying who is at fault for that. In my book, this country is where it is today thanks to two groups of people: Religious conservatives, also known as “evangelicals,” and “Do Nothing Substantive” liberals, because of them became highly-polarized “everything has to be my way” types. Trump stole the middle out from in between those poles, and he was able to do so because middle America is tired of taking fire from both sides in the “no man’s land” between them.

“All those values to me are more important than anybody’s skill in business or anything else because it tells who we are and how we want to live and what kind of people we are. That’s why I have great respect for people like Lindsey Graham and John McCain, John Kasich, who I disagree with on a lot of political things, but they had enough fiber and respect for humanity and tolerance for all groups to say what they said about the man.”

This might be the biggest load of horseshit in this whole bit. I’ll bet there’s plenty of times “Pops” chose “skill” over “values.” I’ll bet he wouldn’t go to a surgeon who could cut a salami without butchering it, no matter what a “good” guy he was. I’m also willing to bet that throughout his career, “Pops” has dealt with plenty of players we would have loved to get rid of because they were dicks, but could can a three-pointer from anywhere in the building. You know that from the three political mercenaries he cited; all three of those guys did nothing throughout this campaign except ingratiate themselves to whoever they thought was winning at the time. So, that means you have great respect for two-faced opportunists.

“I get it, of course we want him to be successful. We’re all gonna say that. Everybody wants him to be successful. It’s our country. We don’t want it to go down the drain. Any reasonable person would come to that conclusion, but that does not take away the fact that he used that fear-mongering and all the comments from day one. The race baiting with trying to make Barack Obama, our first black president, illegitimate. It leaves me wondering where I’ve been living and with whom I’m living.

I was wrong. This is the biggest load of shit in this rant. Don’t tell me you want to Trump to be successful, because you don’t want him to get re-elected. You don’t give a shit about this country “going down the drain” because to you believe it already has. You’ve made that clear. This country can fail all it needs to so long the economy doesn’t get so bad people stop going to basketball games.

Then, there’s that whole “fear-mongering” thing. Am I the only one who remembers that it was in fact Hilary Clinton using that tactic by saying Trump was going to (insert threat to whomever she was speaking to at the time). Trump’s campaign was far too vapid to be threatening; the guy was a master of sloganeering and fluff. “Make America Great Again” is hardly a threat, especially when you offer absolutely no details as to how to do it.

“The fact that people can just gloss that over and start talking about the transition team, and we’re all gonna be Kumbaya now and try to make the country good without talking about about any of those things. Now we see that he’s already backing off on immigration and Obamacare and other things, so was it a big fake? Which makes you feel even more disgusting and cynical that somebody would use that to get the base that fired up to get elected.”

Are you fucking kidding me, “Pops?” “Backing off?” First of all, every politician goes through this stage, because there’s a big difference between the stuff you say on the campaign trail, and the stuff you say after the election. That’s because campaigning and governing are not the same. Not to mention, if Trump were to back on those things , you’d be jumping for joy because that would mean he doesn’t get re-elected. Don’r forget that a lot of people who voted for Obama hoping for the promised change turned to Trump demanding it. If doesn’t deliver, he’s going to be gone. That’s because if Trump doesn’t come across on his promises, I’ll bet you whoever runs against him steals those issues and runs on them. After all, in politics, imitation is good business.

“What gets lost in the process are African-Americans and Hispanics and women and the gay population, not to mention the eighth grade developmental stage exhibited by him when he made fun of the handicapped person. I mean, come on. That’s what a seventh-grade, eighth-grade bully does, and he was elected president of the United States. We would’ve scolded our kids, we would’ve have discussions and talked until we were blue in the face trying to get them to understand these things, and he is in charge of our country. That’s disgusting.”

You’re exactly right, “Pops.” Trump is a bully, and that’s why middle America loves the guy. You see, bullies are like lawyers; the only good ones are the ones who work for you. Liberal politicians and their lackeys in the media and the “politically correct” crowd have been waging a cultural bullying campaign against those who became Trump voters, and they did so because Trump stood up for them, unlike the pathetic little raisin-sac Republicans who refused to do it.

Remember when Obama said that people who opposed him “…get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Or when he said “cops act stupidly?” The people who voted for Trump have been taking shit from the New American Left for a long time, and now they’re fighting back.

“One could go on and on. We didn’t make this stuff up. He’s angry at the media because they reported what he said and how he acted. It’s ironic to me. It just makes no sense. So that’s my real fear and that’s what gives me so much pause and makes me feel so badly that the country is willing to be that intolerant and not understand the empathy that’s necessary to understand other group situations.

You couldn’t be more wrong, “Pops.” Like I just said, Trump supporters have been getting kicked around for a long time, and they ABSOLUTELY FUCKING LOVE a guy who not only fought back for them, but fights back for himself. Did you notice how many times the media has been caught misreporting stories, and the only reason they got caught was because Trump called them out? I’ll give you that lots of unflattering things about Trump have been reported which are true, but you also have to admit there are plenty of the “Russian Hookers” or the “MLK Bust” stories reported which were completely false.

“I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it. I can’t imagine being a Muslim right now, or a woman, or an African-American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person, how disenfranchised they might feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, it’s just beyond my comprehension how they ignore all that.

In case you were waiting, there it is…the absolute mantra of the rich, white liberal. This is where “Pops” proves the racism of the left when he assumes that people of a certain demographic are all supposed to think alike. All blacks were supposed to vote for Obama; all women were supposed to vote for Hilary. It takes a special kind of asshole to presume to know what people think based on what demographic to which they belong. Not to mention, that takes also takes a special kind of stupid.

Are you really telling me that you can’t understand there might be a black person in this country who realized the Democrats have been paying little more than lip service to their community for the last 50 years? Are you really telling me that you can’t understand there might be a woman who doesn’t want to vote for a candidate who takes vast sums of money from countries where women are second-class citizens or outright slaves? Here’s what I’ll do for you, “Pops.” For you or anybody else who really believes America is a bad place for minorities, women, and immigrants, I’m willing to give you $50 in cash and a one-way bus ticket to Mexico where you can see first-hand a country that treats those groups like shit.

Here’s the bottom line. I’m waiting for the argument against Trump that isn’t simply name-calling. I’d love to have an intellectually honest debate on our new president based on policy, but if I’m not going to get that from an obviously smart guy like Gregg Popovich, I don’t hold much hope for getting one anywhere else. What does it tell you about the Anti-Trump crowd when even a smart, well-accomplished guy like “Pops” has nothing but “my side lost butt-hurt name-calling?”

(Except for your profanity) ..Your criticism of Pops unwillingness to discuss POLICY instead of name-calling is SPOT ON!!! I’ve noticed that too from day-one since the coach started his rantings against Trump after the election. And speaking of timing, the other problem is why he chose to go public about Trump now instead of beforehand. Specifically, since Pop regards the current President as basically an “evil man” who will undoubtedly ruin this country if not the whole world, then surely he’s held this view for a long time now. ..which begs the question, …If Pop really thinks Trump is so “dangerous” to the whole world, then why did the coach wait until only recently to say this, instead of “warning us” BEFORE the election.??!! And even more pointedly, to all those reading this who agree with Pop–Why are you patting this guy’s back when clearly his “destroying-the-word” beliefs about the Pres. should have been made BEFORE the election instead of now when all his name-calling and bashing is obviously way too late to make any difference today??